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GROUT BILL. 



OLEOMAEG-AEINE^ 



SPEECH 



/ 

HOK S. S. BARNEY, 



OF WISCONSIN, 












HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1900. 



WASHING-TON". 

1900. 
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SPEECH 

OF 

HON. S. S. BARNEY 



The House being in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, and having under consideration the bill (S. 3419) making further pro- 
vision for a civil government for Alaska, and for other purposes- 
Mr. BARNEY said: 

Mr. Chairman: I shall not at this time enter into an extended 
general discussion of the pending bill (Alaska code), as we are 
all agreed that there is a pressing necessity for proper legislation 
of this character at this session of Congress. Later on, however, 
when this measure is taken up under the five-minute rule, I shall 
have some suggestions to make as to its details. 

At this time I desire to take advantage of the rules and practice 
of the House and make some remarks more particularly applicable 
to other important measures asking the attention of Congress- 
one measure at least, which though perhaps not political in its 
character, is of vital interest to a large portion and perhaps all the 
people of this country. 

The most important industry in America is the farming indus- 
try. And while we all know this to be a fact, I sometimes think 
we pay less attention, in the way of legislation, to its needs than 
anv other. The reason for this perhaps is that the farming in- 
dustry is so diversified and scattered in its influence that its 
wrongs and necessities are not often heard from in legislative 

It is the one great industry in this country which is not yet or- 
ganized into great corporations, which always seem to be able to 
take care of themselves, and, from its very nature, probably 
always will remain divided and free froin concentration. 

It has "stock,'' and, generally, well-watered stock; but not of 
the kind which is quoted upon Wall street. And I trust the day 
is far distant when that will be the case. 

It is very seldom that the farmers of the country knock at the 
doors of Congress for relief, and for that reason if for no other 
when they do come their requests should be heeded. The fact 
that they are here asking for help is good evidence that they are 
entitled to our careful consideration. The measure to which I 
now refer is H. R. 3717, being a bill "to make oleomargarine and 
other imitative dairy products subject to the laws of the State or 
Territory into which they are transported, and to change the tax 
on oleomargarine," introduced by the gentleman from Vermont 
[Mr. Grout] , and commonly known as the ' ' Grout bill. " While 
that measure in some of its details may not be entirely above criti- 
cism, I regard its object and general scope as most meritorious. 
It seeks to prevent fraud both upon the honest producers and the 
honest consumers of this country, and that in relation to a food 
product which enters into the domestic economy of every house- 
hold in the land. 

For that reason it mav truthfully be said to be a measure not 
alone for the relief of the farmer, but also in the interest of all 
the people of this country who are not directly connected with 
4195 s 



this fraud. This bill seeks to insure to the consumer a knowl- 
edge of what he is buying and eating, to the end that he may not 
be imposed upon either in quality or price, and to insure the pro- 
ducer against being compelled to compete against a swindle and 
a fraud. 

Those who have not given the subject careful attention hardly 
realize the magnitude and importance of the dairy interests of 
this country. The annual value of the dairy products of the 
United States is more than §800,000,000, and my own State of 
Wisconsin produces to the value of more than $35,000,000 every 
year. Millions of men, women, and children in this country are 
chiefly dependent upon this industry for their support, and these 
millions form a class of people who have a right to be heard when 
they ask for help. 

They ask for no subsidy or bounty; they ask for no class legisla- 
tion; they ask for nothing but protection against a fraud and a 
counterfeit. They ask for no legislation to assist them in placing 
their product upon the market, but they do ask — and they have a 
right to ask — for a law which shall prevent swindlers and coun- 
terfeiters from invading that market. This law is simply a prop- 
osition to prevent deception of the consumer who wishes to buy 
butter, and is so palpably just as to hardly need argument. But- 
ter is a product of the cow, and from time immemorial she has had 
a monopoly of this article, and no man or corporation has any bet- 
ter right to counterfeit butter than he has to counterfeit the cur- 
rent money of the land. 

Butterine, oleomargarine, or whatever name it may be called 
by, has no more or better right to be called butter and sold in the 
market for butter than a bogus dollar has to pass for a genuine one. 
The only difference is in the extent of the injury done in the one 
case or in the other. 

It should be remembered that the measure referred to does not 
seek to take away or limit the right of anyone to either manu- 
facture, buy, or use butterine, oleomargarine, or any other sub- 
stitute for butter; it only seeks to compel the manufacturers of 
these substitutes to place them upon the market and sell them 
for what they really are. 

If a manufacturer still wishes to deceive the public and color 
his product in imitation of butter, he can do so upon the payment 
of the required tax. If it were possible under the Constitution to 
do so, I would not have any manufacturer permitted, for any 
price, to deceive the public in a food product: but this exercise of 
the taxing power seems to be the only feasible way we have of 
reaching and preventing this deception and swindling of the 
public. 

It is said that we are thus indirectly taxing an article out of 
existence. Now, in the first place, let it be understood that we 
are not attempting to tax oleomargarine or any other substitute 
for butter out of existence when made and sold for what it really 
is, but only desire to make it difficult for manufacturers to place 
on the market and seil an article of food for what it is not. If 
this can be accomplished in this way, I am glad of it and have no 
apology to offer. Congi*ess taxed the old State banks out of exist- 
ence, and thus prevented the public from being imposed upon by 
a wildcat and unsafe currency, and that was done " with malice 
aforethought," and the great majority of the people of this coun- 
try are saying amen to that legislation every day. Many States, 
by means of high license, tax rum out of the market, or at least 

4495 



limit its sale, which is the same thing in principle. If such legis- 
lation is a proper exercise of the taxing power, I see no impro- 
priety in making it burdensome, by taxation, for counterfeiters to 
deceive the public in an article of food. 

It has been claimed that this oleomargarine is a wholesome ar- 
ticle of food, better than much of the butter which is sold in the 
market, and that it is bought and consumed by the poorer classes, 
and that such a law will deprive them of this privilege. There is 
no truth whatever to this proposition, and it is only a subterfuge, 
by the means of which dishonest manufacturers seek to obtain 
undeserved sympathy and support. 

Such a law will not prevent or in any way limit the manufac- 
ture and sale of oleomargarine or any other substitute for butter 
when not placed upon the market in a manner calculated to de- 
ceive the public. This law is as much in the interest of the peo- 
ple who buy and consume oleomargarine as of those who produco 
butter, and will only reduce the dishonest profits of the oleomar- 
garine manufacturer. When the public is deceived as to the kind 
and quality of the article it is buying, it is always liable to be 
cheated, and generally is cheated. 

Why is oleomargarine made and sold in imitation of butter if 
not for the purpose of making the consumer think that he is buy- 
ing butter, and thus fraudulently induce him to pay for it the 
price of butter? While all may not be thus deceived, some un- 
questionably are, and in that way the market price of oleomarga- 
rine is dishonestly raised above its fair market value. It has been 
proven that oleomargarine can be made for less than 8 cents per 
pound, and yet it is often sold for more than three times that 
sum. Thus it is seen that all classes are cheated by this counter- 
feit — the farmer, the dealer, and the consumer. 

Let some law be enacted which will prevent this deception, at 
the same time in no way preventing or limiting the honest manu- 
facture and sale of oleomargarine for what it really is, and the 
consumer of this article, instead of paying 18 or 20 cents a pound 
for it, will be able to get it for but little more than one-half that 
sum. The dishonest profit of the manufacturer will be taken 
away, and the man who can afford it and who buys gilt-edged 
creamery butter will perhaps pay a little more for it, for he will 
know what he is getting and will not be deceived. 

At the last session of the Fifty-fifth Congress, the Senate, by 
resolution, authorized and directed its Committee on Manufac- 
tures to investigate the pure-food question, and to ascertain if any 
food products are frauds upon the purchasers. While this com- 
mittee was in session in the city of Chicago last summer, several 
witnesses appeared before it with samples of oleomargarine, 
which had j ust been purchased for the ' ' best creamery butter, " and 
for which from 18 to 25 cents per pound had been paid. Some of 
these packages had no marks upon them at all, as required by law, 
to enable the purchaser to know what he was buying, and all the 
others were so wrapped that this mark was entirely concealed; 
and this evidence was not successfully contradicted. 

Notwithstanding the fact that this kind of traffic is being car- 
ried on all over the country, all the time in violation of law, ex- 
perience proves that under the present law it is practically impos- 
sible to prevent it or to punish the offenders. 

It may be stated as a fact almost undisputed that more than 
four-fifths of the oleomargarine sold and consumed in this country 
is sold for pure butter; and a large part of that which is honestly 
«95 



6 

sold is fraudulently placed before the consumer for pure butter 
by dishonest hotel and boarding-house keepers. This dishonest 
practice can be but for one purpose and can have but one effect, 
and that is to raise the price of the imitation article approximately 
to that of pure creamery butter, while its cost of production is 
less than one-half. 

Does it need any argument to prove that if a law is passed and 
enforced which will prevent this deceit and fraud, this imitation 
will be reduced in price to a fair profit above the cost of produc- 
tion, and thus save money to the purchasers and consumers of 
oleomargarine? It is not to be wondered at that the pork packers 
of Chicago and other large cities are opposed to this measure, 
because without some such law they are able to sell imitation 
butter for more than twice the cost of production. 

The following report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 
in response to the resolution of Congress asking for information 
as to the ingredients used in the manufacture of oleomargarine, 
as shown by the returns of the different manufacturers, shows 
the composition of this article of food and proves beyond a doubt 
that it is now being sold in the market for nearly twice what it is 
honestly worth: 

[House Document No. 682, Fifty-sixth Congress, first session.] 
Treasury Department, 
Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 

Washington, D. C, May lh, 1900. 

Sir: In compliance with your instructions in responding to House resolu- 
tion of May 8, 1900, I have the honor to submit herewith data therein called 
for. 

The original forms in which this information is submitted to this office are 
not only very large in bulk, but voluminous in number, and can not very 
well be transmitted: besides, they are a part of the records of the Internal 
Revenue Bureau, and should not therefore leave the custody of the Treasury 
Department. 

The data submitted discloses the kinds of material used, tho amount of 
each ingredient, and the per cent that each bears to the total amount of oleo- 
margarine produced in the country for the periods named, and it is believed 
furnishes all the information intended to be called for in the resolution. 
Very respectfully, 

G. W. WILSON, Commissioner. 

The Secretary of the Treasury. 



Quantities and kinds of ingredients used in the production of oleomargarine 
in the United States for the fiscal year ending June SO, 1899; also, the percent- 
age each ingredient bears to the whole quantity. 



Materials. 


Pounds. 


Percent- 
age each 

ingredient 
bears to 

the whole. 




31,297.251 

24.491,769 

4,357,514 

486, 310 

148,970 

110, 164 

8,963 

5,890 

2,550 

14,200,576 

6,773,670 

4,343,901 

1,568,319 

3,527,410 




34.27 




26.82 




4.77 




.53 




.16 




.12 




.01 




.007 




.003 


Milk 


15.55 


Salt 


7.42 




4.76 




1.72 




3.86 






Total 


91,322,260 




100 







4495 



Quantities and kinds of ingredients used in the production of oleomargarine in 
the United Slate.-: for the month of December, 1S00; also, the percentage each 
ingredient bears to the whole quantity. 



Materials. 


Pounds. 


Percent- 
age each 

ingredient 
bears to 

the whole. 




3,735,777 

3,369,085 

511,157 

21,753 

50,500 

14,111 

13,705 

1,212 

2,940 

106, 130 

800, 156 

1,889,467 

727, 062 

471,688 


31 88 


Oleo oil 


28 84 




4.34 
18 


Color 


Sesame 


43 


Sugar 


12 


Stearin 


10 


Glycerin 


01 




02 


Butter 


90 


Salt 


6 83 


Milk 


16 13 


Butter oil 


6 °l> 




4 02 






Total 


11,713,743 


100 







Without discussing the question as to the healthfulness of the 
above conglomeration of ingredients, I think I am justified in saying 
that it is not honestly worth in the market 20 cents per pound and 
never would sell for that sum if uniformly offered for sale with- 
out deception. Oleomargarine has the same rights before the 
public as any other food product, and it is not sought by this law 
to take from it one such just right. It has the right to be made 
of lard, hoof fat, cotton-seed oil, and soap grease. It has the right 
to come into the market honestly for what it actually is and, under 
those circumstances, to obtain for itself as high a price as the con- 
sumer will pay. But it has no right to sneak into the market 
disguised as pure butter and thereby obtain an unfair and dis- 
honest advantage over both the butter consumer and the butter 
producer. 

There is no better protection for the public against unjust prof- 
its than laws to compel producers to put their goods upon the 
market and sell them without deceit or fraud, and that is all this 
measure seeks to do. 

We are told that we have no more right to tax the manufac- 
turer of oleomargarine for his colored product than we have to 
tax the farmer who sometimes does the same • thing. I say there 
is no analogy between the two cases whatever, because the manu- 
facturer of oleomargarine colors his product for the purpose, and 
the only purpose, of cheating the consumer and making him be- 
lieve he is buying something which he is not buying, while the 
producer of butter has no such object in view. Pure butjer is 
colored to suit the fancy of the consumer and not to cheat him. 
I tell the man who sells me my butter that I do not wish it colored, 
and he brings it to me uncolored; others who buy of the same 
man desire their butter colored, and they get it to suit their fancy. 

Nearly all wool is white, and everybody knows that to be a fact, 
and yet most of the garments which are made of wool are colored. 
This is not done for the purpose of cheating the buyer— and he is 
in no way deceived by it— but is done to suit the varied fancies of 
the buyers and wearers of woolen garments. There is no more 
fraud in the coloring of pure butter than there is in the coloring 
of wool and woolen goods. 

4495 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000 891 380 8 



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I\ : conclusion I wish to say that there is a larger and broader 
prirj tiple involved in the measure than the protection of the farmer 
from the dishonest invasion of his market or the protection of the 
consumer from this one fraud. 

America is the richest and most fertile country on the face of 
the earth. It has the means and the capacity of producing the 
greatest variety and the best foods consumed by man. Its people 
are the most ingenious and skillful people under the sun. For 
these reasons the food products of America ought to be the best 
in the world; and yet, if one wishes to purchase an extra article 
of food, he must buy something either actually imported or marked 
imported to deceive him. 

Is it not a fact, humiliating to every American citizen, that for- 
eign brands are placed upon our best food products to make peo- 
ple believe they were not made in America? And why is this so? 

Not because we have not the material and the skill "to make the 
best food under the sun, for we have both: but because we have 
not yet risen to the standard of the OM "World in the enactment 
and enforcing of pure-food laws. 

The first step in that direction is to drive out of our markets 
every fraud and counterfeit. Every State should make and en- 
force laws which will enable the purchaser to know just what he 
is buying and eating or drinking, and the Federal Government 
should lend its aid in that direction, so far as it can, by the ex- 
ercise of its taxing power. 

If one wishes for any reason to buy ground pease instead of cof- 
fee, oleomargarine instead of butter, or any other substitute in- 
stead of the genuine article, he should have the unlimited right 
to do so, but he should buy in the market with a full knowledge 
of what he is getting. He can then buy pure food if he wishes to 
do so, and whatever he buys he can get it for what it is reason- 
ably worth. This measure will at least help to accomplish that 
object with reference to one of the most important and delicate 
articles of food which goes upon the American table, and that is 
why I am heartily in favor of it. 

I sincerely trust that before this session of Congress closes this 
measure will be reported to the House and considered. If that is 
done, it will undoubtedly pass, and it is a great wrong to prevent 
this consummation by parliamentary scheming. 

4195 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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